


Semester Four

by Lithal



Series: Dorks in University [5]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Finally, Fluff, Getting Together, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-12 17:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15344934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lithal/pseuds/Lithal
Summary: Another self-indulgent entry in a self-indulgent series.Thanks to our_flame_never_goes_out for being an awesome beta!





	Semester Four

**Author's Note:**

> Another self-indulgent entry in a self-indulgent series.  
> Thanks to our_flame_never_goes_out for being an awesome beta!

“Home, sweet home!” Kuroo said ironically, dropping a bag of groceries on the kitchen counter. “Let’s hope this semester isn’t as terrible as the last one.”

“Hear, hear,” Kasamatsu said, walking in with boxes of food his mom had insisted on sending with him, even though he had explained to her that they took turns cooking and were all decent cooks. He supposed he could stick most of the food in the freezer and save it for the busier days. The pork tenderloin he put in the fridge to eat that night.

“Oh yeah, just so you know, I’m not going to be tutoring Kise anymore because he’s going to cram school,” Kuroo told him.

“Oh, okay. Is he still playing basketball?” Kasamatsu asked.

“Not sure. He didn’t say anything about that,” Kuroo answered. “By the way, I talked to my parents and my mom said we should talk to the owner about the shitty insulation in the living room now that’s it starting to get really cold.”

Kasamatsu nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I’ll send him an email tonight. There’s no need to cook for tonight, my mom gave me food.”

“Great. Less work for us. Thank your mom for me,” Kuroo said, putting away the last of the groceries. “I’m going down to campus to sell a textbook to some unsuspecting first-year. See you later.”

 

It seemed that their wish for a less intense semester had come true, at least partly. Kasamatsu found that he didn’t have as many assignments and tests this semester as he had had last semester, which was a relief, but also meant that more marks depended on fewer things and there was a smaller margin for error.

Besides the less intense workload, another glaringly obvious change in his daily life was a disconcerting lack of messages from Kise. The number of texts had gone down from several a day since pretty much the beginning of first year to one or two every couple of days. That, added to the fact that Kise didn’t come over every week, made him realize that he missed having Kise around. He had gotten more attached to him than he had ever anticipated. He needed to make new friends.

A few weeks and no new friends later, Kasamatsu sat on the living room couch one Friday night, watching a random show he had started in a fit of boredom and was now way too invested in to stop. It had been a few days since he had last heard from Kise, so he was very surprised when a tired Kise walked into the apartment.

“Hi, senpai,” he said without his usual energy.

“Hey,” Kasamatsu said. “You look tired. Have you lost weight?”

“Probably,” he said. “Are either Kenma or Kuroo-san home?”

“No, actually. They went out. Did they know you were coming?”

Kise shook his head, looking miserable. “I needed to talk to them.”

“They should be back soon. Why don’t you go take a nap in my room while you wait? You look like you’re going to fall asleep on your feet.”

Kise obeyed without a word. Concerned, Kasamatsu wondered if he should text Kuroo, but then decided against it. He would text if they weren’t back in another two hours. His decision turned out to be the right one because they returned soon after Kise had disappeared into the bedroom.

“Kise’s here. He said he wanted to talk to you, and also said that you didn’t know he was coming,” he told them.

They exchanged a glance. “We didn’t, but I thought that might happen,” Kenma said. “He was stressed the last time we talked.”

“Where is he?” Kuroo asked.

“In my room, taking a nap,” Kasamatsu replied. “I can go wake him up.”

“No, just let him be,” Kenma said.

“Sure,” Kasamatsu said. He wanted to ask what was going on, but he figured they’d tell him if it was his business. He went back to watching his show, and got so engrossed in it that he didn’t notice anything happening around him. He was very startled when Kuroo sat down on the couch a few episodes later. Pausing the video, he removed his headphones and gave Kuroo an inquisitive look.

“So, a few things,” Kuroo said, no trace of his trademark creepy smirk in sight. “Kenma said Kise’s been stressed, right? It’s because he’s trying to study for entrance exams and keep up with classes, the club, a relationship, and his job.”

Kasamatsu felt strange at the mention of a relationship, but this wasn’t about him. “This isn’t really the time to get into a relationship,” he said before he could stop himself.

Kuroo raised his eyebrows. “I advised him against it, actually, since it’s mostly so he can get over feelings he has for someone else. It’s not really fair to who he’s dating.”

Kasamatsu agreed. “Why does he want to get over the person?” he asked, curious despite himself.

“Because he thinks his feelings are unrequited,” Kuroo answered.

“‘Thinks?’ So he hasn’t told them?”

That earned him a strange look from Kuroo. “Nope. He gave up and decided to try to get over them. I can’t say that’s a bad decision, to be honest. Pining away for as long as he has isn’t good for him.”

“Shouldn’t he at least tell them first?”

Kuroo shrugged. “It really depends on the person, you know? Sometimes it is better. Sometimes it isn’t. I would tell him to do it, to be honest, but he’s decided not to.”

“I could tell him,” Kasamatsu suggested, very reluctantly.

To his surprise, Kuroo shot the suggestion down immediately. “No. That’s the _last_ thing he needs to hear from you,” he said firmly.

“What, why?” he asked, confused and also a little irritated. It wasn’t like he was going to yell at Kise. He hadn’t done that for a while now. Maybe he hadn’t really needed to yell at him before, either, but that was neither here nor there.

“Because, Kasamatsu-san,” Kenma’s quiet voice broke into his thoughts. Kasamatsu hadn’t even realized he was in the room with them. “You’re the person he’s been pining after.”

Kasamatsu decided he was starting to hear things. “No, I’m not,” he said automatically.

“You really are,” Kuroo said. “Think about it.”

Kasamatsu did, and his stomach sank.

“Yeah,” Kuroo said. “So, maybe don’t give him advice like that.”

“You knew,” Kasamatsu said, looking at Kuroo and Kenma accusingly.

“We did,” Kuroo agreed. “We didn’t want to interfere,” he added before Kasamatsu could ask. “But now that you know, what are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?” Kasamatsu asked.

“Now that you’ve had a chance to digest all of this,” Kuroo said slowly, “what are you going to do?”

“Kasamatsu-san, do you like him back?” Kenma asked bluntly.

“Kenma,” Kuroo admonished.

Kenma rolled his eyes in response. “What? With some people, you have to be direct.”  

Kasamatsu barely heard the last exchange, he was too busy processing what Kenma had asked him. Thinking about it, his brain helpfully compiled two lists for him. List one, indicating that he liked Kise but not necessarily as more than a friend: he liked having him around, he liked reading his text messages, and he didn’t like the thought of him being hurt or upset. List two, indicating that he did like Kise as more than a friend: he hadn’t liked the idea of him having a crush on Kuroo, he didn’t like the idea of Kise dating someone else, he hadn’t thought that them sleeping in the same bed was strange at all, and Kise came to mind when he actively thought about someone he might want to date. Conclusion: he was a brick.

“Kenma, I think you broke him,” he heard Kuroo say and snapped back to reality. “You good?” Kuroo asked him.

“Peachy,” Kasamatsu said. “He still here or did he leave at some point without me noticing?”

“Still in your room,” Kenma answered him.

“I’m going to go talk to him,” Kasamatsu said. He didn’t really know what he was going to say, just that he was going to say _something._ To give himself some more time, he went to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of popsicles; strawberry for Kise and grape for himself. Steeling himself, he entered his room. Kise was sitting on the bed with his legs drawn up and his head on his knees. He looked up at Kasamatsu with red-rimmed eyes.

“Here,” Kasamatsu said, offering him the popsicle. Kise took it silently. Kasamatsu took his time opening up the packet, feeling Kise’s stare bore into him. Neither of them spoke.

“Kuroo said you’re stressed out,” Kasamatsu said, finally breaking the silence. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“I’m fine, senpai,” Kise answered. Kasamatsu let it slide, even though it was a blatant lie.

“Maybe you should cut down on some things. Spend less time on club activities?” he suggested. Kise listened and offered no comment. “I also heard that you’re dating someone to…uh, get over some feelings,” he added, feeling increasingly uncomfortable and staring at his popsicle. “You probably shouldn’t do that. Date them for that reason, I mean.”

He heard the crackling of a wrapper. “But I don’t know what else to do, senpai. Nothing’s going to come out of acting on my feelings. And I’d really like to get over them.”

“You can’t use someone else for that, you know,” Kasamatsu said. “That’s selfish. And also, what if you don’t have to get over those feelings?” he added, feeling himself going warm and wishing he was anywhere else.

Kise laughed bitterly. “I wish that was true,” he said.

Taking a deep breath, Kasamatsu looked him in the eye. “It is true.” He was probably blushing furiously, but he forced himself to maintain eye contact. Kise stared at him in complete shock, then laughed even more bitterly than before, if that was possible. Evidently, Kasamatsu would have to try harder to convince him. At a loss for what to do, Kasamatsu finished the last of his popsicle while trying to think of how to make Kise believe him. That turned out to be the wrong move, because Kise quickly finished his own and got up. He got the feeling that he couldn’t let Kise think his silence had been a sign that he was really just doing it to make him feel better.

Not knowing what else to do, he also stood and held out his hand. “Kise, come here,” he said. Frowning, Kise moved towards him without taking his hand, but he kept it held out until Kise took it.

“Senpai, what are you doing?” he asked.

Feeling his ears go warm, Kasamatsu threaded his fingers through Kise’s, and held their linked hands up between them. “Convincing you,” he said, staring resolutely at Kise’s face, feeling his face burn. Kise’s eyes had widened.

“Am I dreaming?” Kasamatsu heard Kise mutter in a low voice.

“No,” Kasamatsu said, using his free hand to flick him lightly on the forehead.

Kise pouted instinctively, and Kasamatsu felt his lips curve in a smile. “You aren’t messing with me, are you, senpai?” Kise asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

“No, you idiot,” Kasamatsu said with a sigh. “I…uh, like you. Romantically,” he choked out. Why was this so hard?

A few seconds of shocked silence later, Kise’s face broke into smile was so bright it made all the awkwardness worth it. “To think I only needed to have a nervous breakdown,” he said.

Kasamatsu frowned. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize,” he said, gently tracing Kise’s dark circles with his thumb and enjoying the way he flushed. “You can sleep over tonight. We’ll talk more about everything tomorrow.”

“Does everything include this?” Kise said, gesturing at their still-joined hands.

“Yes,” Kasamatsu said. “But now, get some rest. Do you want to eat?” he asked.

Kise shook his head. “I’ll just brush my teeth and sleep. Senpai, sleep with me?” he said nervously. There was silence for a heartbeat, and then Kasamatsu felt all the blood rush to his face again. He had probably blushed more today than he had in the past two years. Kise reddened as well, and started gesturing wildly. “I didn’t mean—not have sex, just sleep,” he said quickly.

“Yeah, fine. We’ve been doing that for a while anyway,” Kasamatsu said gruffly. “You can use the toilet first.”

Kise grabbed a set of pajamas and fled from the room. Kasamatsu followed a moment later. Kuroo and Kenma looked at him from the couch, where they had both been reading.  

“Based on how red his face was, I’d say it went well,” Kuroo said with a smirk.

“Shut up,” Kasamatsu said, without any heat. “How did it go for you two? I mean, obviously it went well, but how did it feel?” he asked, geniuinely curious. Maybe he just wanted to hear that it was awkward for everyone.

“We were at my house and I asked him if he wanted to date me,” Kenma said. “He went a delightful shade of pink.”

“Kenma, you make me sound so uncool,” Kuroo said, pretending to be hurt.

“That’s because you are,” Kenma said flatly, snuggling into his side. Kuroo snorted a laugh.

“But you love me anyway,” he said fondly, then looked back at Kasamatsu, “A lot of people who know both of us are surprised when they hear he was the one who asked me out,” he commented.

“You’re more outgoing, but I feel like you’d have been afraid to ruin things with him,” Kasamastu said honestly. “He’s quieter and not good with people at first, but he’s also lot more direct about what he wants.”

“Very astute,” Kuroo said. “Where was this insight when your own feelings were concerned?”

“I guess it only works on other people,” Kasamatsu said with a shrug. Kise emerged from the toilet and smiled tiredly at them.

“Congratulations,” Kuroo said. “Finally.” Kenma gave Kise a small smile.

“Okay, off to bed with you,” Kasamatsu said firmly, giving him a gentle push towards the bedroom. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

As he headed towards the bedroom, he heard Kuroo say, “Be safe, and remember: the walls are thin!”

“Piss off, Kuroo,” he said, quickly making his escape, feeling mortified. Kuroo’s cackling laughter followed him.

Kise was already in bed, but he opened his eyes when Kasamatsu entered the room and stood awkwardly next to the bed. They’d been sharing for a while now, but it was different this time, and because it was different, Kasamatsu felt nervous.

“C’mon, senpai,” Kise said sleepily. “If you want, I’ll stay on my side like before,” he added.

It was sweet, Kasamatsu thought, that Kise was trying to make sure he didn’t feel awkward. He switched off the lights and climbed into bed. “You don’t have to stick to that corner, Kise,” he said quietly after a while, but there was no answer, presumably because Kise had already drifted off. Kasamatsu fell asleep feeling both relieved and disappointed.

 

He woke up the next day because he was too warm. Somehow, they had shifted in the night and he had ended up with his face close to Kise’s chest and one of Kise’s arms draped across him. Unable to think of any way to extract himself without waking Kise up, he tugged at his earring. “Oi, Kise, wake up.”

Kise opened his eyes and looked at him blearily before removing his arm and freeing Kasamatsu. He didn’t look like he was in any mood to get out of bed just yet, but Kasamatsu wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep, having woken up fully. He decided to make breakfast instead of lying in the bed and wasting his time. He took his time in the toilet since nobody else seemed to be awake just yet, and then headed to the kitchen. Looking in the fridge, he decided to make some bacon and eggs. He was just taking out the bacon from the pan when Kuroo entered the kitchen.

“That smells great,” he said. “You look happy today.”

Kasamatsu shrugged. “I guess. I’ll put Kenma’s in the microwave.”

“Thanks,” Kuroo said. “I’m heading to the gym. Gotta keep these quads in shape,” he added with a grin. “Want to come? You could bring Kise too, if he wants to go.”

“He’s not a morning person,” Kasamatsu said. “I think I’ll pass today. Have to work on an assignment.”

“Alright,” Kuroo said, pilling his plate with food. “Don’t forget to have a clear talk with Kise today, though. Particularly about his girlfriend. He should probably break up with her now,” he advised.

“Girlfriend?” Kasamatsu echoed. He wasn’t sure why he was surprised. Kise had mentioned a middle school girlfriend before. He was probably bi, not that it mattered. “I’ll talk to him,” he said. It was better to get all the awkward conversations out of the way as soon as possible.

“And if you need any advice, I’m your man,” Kuroo said with a devilish grin.

“If I need advice, I’ll ask Kenma,” Kasamatsu said.

“And I thought we were bros,” Kuroo said, shaking his head in disappointment. “Thanks for the breakfast,” he added, wolfing it down right there in the kitchen. He deposited the plate in the sink and left.

Kasamatsu took his own plate to the table to eat, thinking about the events from yesterday. His mind was offering him a compilation of things they needed to talk about, along with scenarios of him messing this up before it had even really begun. He was thinking too much about it, but he couldn’t stop. He needed a distraction.

As if on cue, a curiously annoying sound emerged from his bedroom. It sounded like someone was trying to yodel the musical scale at a quarter of normal tempo, but along with being painfully slow, was completely off key. By the time it droned out a terrible mi and started grating out the fah, Kasamatsu was gritting his teeth and opened his mouth to yell. Before he got a chance to make his displeasure known, a very irritated Kenma opened his bedroom door and pounded on the door with his fist, twice. The alarm suddenly switched off, and Kise emerged a minute later, stifling a yawn. Kenma leveled a glare at him, retreated into his bedroom, and slammed the door shut.

“Morning,” Kise said, as if he hadn’t just annoyed both Kenma and Kasamatsu.

Kasamatsu shook his head. “That’s one obnoxious alarm you’ve got,” he said.

“It was the only thing that would wake me up,” Kise said. By the time he got out of the toilet, Kasamatsu had finished his breakfast and had made some coffee for himself.

Kise joined him at the table. “This looks good, senpai,” he said and dug in.

“Right,” Kasamatsu said once they were finished and had moved to the couch.

“Time to talk?” Kise asked, when Kasamatsu didn’t say anything else.

Kasamatsu nodded. “Right,” he repeated. “You should…uh…break up with your girlfriend, if we’re going to be…together.”

“I know, senpai. What kind of scoundrel do you think I am?” Kise said, looking a little offended. Great.

“Just putting it out there,” Kasamatsu said. “But we both know you can be a cold-hearted piece of shit, so don’t deny it.”

“That’s true,” Kise conceded.

“We’re not going to let this interfere with either of our studies,” Kasamatsu went on.

Kise raised his eyebrows. “Don’t worry, senpai, I have no intention of letting my grades slip. They’re just good enough to get me into university. Hopefully.”

“Oh yeah, speaking of. You should probably cut down on club acitivites if you’re getting stressed about your studies,” Kasamatsu said, feeling a little hypocritical since he had played for as long as he was able in his last year. But his grades had been good.

Kise stared at him. “I’ll think about it,” he said, and Kasamatsu knew he wouldn’t listen to that piece of advice. “Anything else?” Kise asked.

“No,” Kasamatsu said. “Is there anything you want to say?”

“I’m taking my entrance exams soon,” Kise said. “So I won’t be coming over for a while.”

“That’s fine. Focus on your studies,” Kasamatsu said, suddenly realizing that he had taken Kise’s hand at some point and had been playing with it. “What time are you going home?” he asked, to cover his embarrassment over the sudden realization. They’d been dating for less than a day and he was already turning into a sap.

“I should go soon,” Kise said a little reluctantly. “There’s a test I need to study for.”  

“I’ll walk with you to the station.”

Kise gathered his things and the two headed to the station, Kise chattering mostly about basketball and the other members of the Generation of Miracles. Apparently, Midorima and Akashi were going to apply to Tokyo University and were expected to get in, Aomine was thinking about going into a police academy, Murasakibara was going to apply to culinary school, Momoi was heading to university for computer science, Kagami was going to apply to a firefighting course, and Kuroko was headed to teacher’s college. Kasamatsu didn’t really care to know all of this, but he also didn’t really know what to say, so he listened.

It turned out that because they didn’t really see each other a lot over the next few weeks, the shift in their relationship was subtle. Kise had gone back to texting him every day, and often he would call at night, telling Kasamatsu about his day and sometimes asking for advice about extrance exams. The semester didn’t get a lot busier for Kasamatsu except during the couple of weeks when he somehow had everything for every class due.

Because he wasn’t extremely busy, he had started getting involved in extra-curriculars, and was a peer mentor for first-year engineering students. He wasn’t sure why he had signed up for it, but it was pretty rewarding. He was also more involved in events hosted by the mechanical engineering students society, or the MESS for short. He thought it was a very apt name, but kept that thought to himself.

Since Kuroo was also involved in extra-curriculars, the two would often invite each other to things they were helping out with or hosting, which was why Kasamatsu found himself at a mug painting event hosted by the chemistry society. And as before, he found himself sitting at a table with Victor and his group of friends, feeling a sense of déjà vu.

“Oh hey, Kasamatsu! Jeet yet?” Victor said enthusiastically. Kasamatsu had no idea what he had been asked, so he chose to smile awkwardly and nod.

“Aren’t you the one who was dating a model?” one of the other guys from last time asked again. Kasamatsu wondered if this was how their conversations were doomed to go every time they saw each other. He saw Kuroo give him a sidelong glance.

“ _Am_ dating a model, actually,” he said casually.

The guys all gaped at him. “Really?” Victor said. “Your model friend introduced you to his friends?”

“No,” Kasamatsu said.

“You met another model?”

“No.”

“Is she older?”

“No, actually. _He’s_ a couple years younger.”

A stunned silence followed. Out of the corner of his eye, Kasamatsu saw Kuroo stifle a laugh.

“Oh,” Victor said. “Well, good for you.”

“Thanks.”

Victor turned to Kuroo next. “I heard you’re dating some first-year engineer,” he said.

Kuroo smiled widely at him. “Aren’t you well-informed?”

“Gossip travels fast, particularly in small programs,” Victor said.

“Are you even in chemistry?” Kasamatsu asked him.

“No, but what does that have to do with anything?”

Kasamatsu shook his head, and Victor turned his questions back to Kuroo. Kasamatsu supposed it was Kuroo’s turn to be bothered by nosy ex-residence-mates.

“Your source is correct. I am dating a first-year engineer,” Kuroo said. “I’m wondering how they found out, though,” he added, speaking more to himself than to anyone else. “In any case, why are we discussing my love life? Aren’t we here to paint mugs?” he pointed out, grabbing a mug and starting to paint careful lines on it.

Kasamatsu followed his lead and started drawing on the mug. He had never been artistic and the patterns ended up looking like a child had painted them, but it was relaxing and they got to keep the mugs. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever use it, but he took it home anyway. Maybe he would give it to his little brother.

“That’s a nice shade of blue you’ve painted your mug,” Kuroo commented later, when they deposited their mugs in the kitchen.

“Thanks, it’s called copen blue,” Kasamatsu said.

“Copen blue?” Kuroo echoed with a raised eyebrow. “Aren’t you fancy?”

Kasamatsu shrugged. “I’m taking a course where all we do is talk about colours.”

“Ew. Why are you taking that course?”

“It was either that or geography. I took a look at the geo textbook in the store and the thought of memorizing the definition of a holm or learning about bends in rivers wasn’t very appealing, even though there were nice sea diagrams in the book.”

“Fair enough.”

 

Kasamatsu had just finished slogging through his Engineering Math IV assignment, and the symbol xi was running in zig-zags in his brain when his phone buzzed, startling him.   

“Hello?”

“Senpai!”

“Oh, hey.”

“Is it okay if I stay over tonight? My entrance exam is tomorrow morning and I’m scared I’ll miss it if I have to take the train in the morning.”

“Yeah, of course.”

“Okay. I’ll see you soon!”

“See you.” Kasamatsu hung up and cleared away his textbook and assignment. This semester’s engineering math professor was a huge improvement over the last one, which was great because the content was getting more difficult by the day. He had done terribly on the last assignment and really needed to bring his mark up with this one.

For some reason, he was tempted to rewatch _Je_ , even though he had no time to waste on movies. Shrugging the feeling off, he decided to take a nap until his next class, or until Kise got there, whichever came first. He was looking forward to seeing him. It had been a while.

“Senpai? Senpai!” Kasamatsu woke up to Kise shaking him firmly. “Don’t you have class soon?” he asked with a frown.

Wide awake, Kasamatsu bolted up and looked at the time. He had ten minutes before class started, and he couldn’t miss it because there were marked on participation. If he ran, he could probably make it. Grabbing his keys and his bag, he gave Kise a quick peck on the cheek and practically ran out of the apartment, almost bowling some poor student over as he sped down the stairs in his haste. In the end, he made it to the tutorial, out of breath and sweaty, but on time. Which didn’t really matter so much, because they were assigned partners for a project, and he ended up with a squinty-eyed guy with glasses who looked very familiar.

“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” the guy asked him.

“I got the same feeling,” he answered. “Kasamatsu Yukio,” he introduced himself.

“Hmm…did we play against each other in high school? Imayoshi Shoichi.”

Kasamatsu suddenly remembered a squinty-eyed asshole wearing Touou’s colours back in high school. He didn’t think he was ever going to get over that bitter defeat to Touou.

“Oh hey, I remember now,” Imayoshi said. “You were Kaijo’s cap’n, no?”

“Yeah,” he said.

Imayoshi hummed. “Fancy havin’ the same class, hmm. What program’re you in?”

“Mechanical,” Kasamatsu replied. So far, Imayoshi seemed pleasant enough, but he still gave Kasamatsu the overall impression of a snake.

“Mm, cool. ‘m in mechatronics,” Imayoshi said. “Well, I guess between the two of us, we oughta do a good job on this project,” he added. “Why don’t you give me your number so we can decide on when to work on it?”

Kasamatsu nodded and typed in his phone number into Imayoshi’s phone. Imayoshi sent him a text so he could save his number, and then they worked on the project for a bit. Kasamatsu learned that Imayoshi also lived in the same complex, but in a different building. That was lucky for them, since it meant that they wouldn’t have to go through the hassle of booking study rooms on campus to work on the project.

When Kasamatsu got home, Kise was sitting at the table, frantically poring through notes. He looked less stressed out than the last time he had seen him. He shot Kasamatsu a quick smile before going right back to his notes.

“Did you eat?” Kasamatsu asked him.

“Not yet,” Kise said absently.

He was still reading his notes when Kasamatsu was done showering. Hungry, Kasamatsu opened the fridge and was greeted by the sight of a tray with two-tier lasagna sitting on it. It looked very tempting, so he made two plates and heated them up.

“Here, eat,” he said, putting down a plate next to Kise. Kise didn’t seem to have heard him, because he made no move to pick up the fork.

“Kise,” Kasamatsu tried again. “You have to eat.”

“Later,” Kise said, eyes still glued to the notes.

“Kise,” Kasamatsu said when he was finished and Kise still hadn’t touched his food. “Do you plan on subsisting on oxygen?”

Kise looked up from his notes at that. “No, I’ll eat when I’m done.”

Kasamatsu sighed. He put a pencil in the textbook and closed it, ignoring Kise’s protests. “Eat now. You need a break.”

Which was how Kuroo and Kenma returned to find Kise eating lasagna with Kasamatsu keeping watch over him as he sipped some coffee.

“Hello, I didn’t know you were coming over today,” Kuroo said. “Is your exam tomorrow?”

Kise nodded.

“How’s the lasagna?”

“It’s good. Why is it two-tier though?” Kasamatsu asked.

“Kenma said he didn’t think I could do it,” Kuroo said with a sniff. “I bet him a reel of film I could.”

“You have a gambling problem,” Kasamatsu said, shaking his head.

“Kenma, how was your day?” Kise asked, swallowing a forkful of lasagna.

“Fine. We had to learn about vox. I wish we’d learn something useful instead.”

“When does university ever teach you anything important?” Kasamatsu said, thinking back to the useless things he had learned last year and last semester.

“Some old sot decided on the syllabus and it’s all useless,” Kuroo agreed. “Okay, I’m going to take a shower and head to bed. Good luck on your exam tomorrow, Kise.”

Kenma echoed his good wishes, and Kise nodded thanks to both of them.

 

Kise wouldn’t tell Kasamatsu how his exam had gone, which worried Kasamatsu, but he didn’t press. He was surprised when Kise called him in the middle of the day one day, sounding very excited.

“Slow down, Kise, I can’t understand you,” he said.

“Senpai, I passed the exam!” Kise said happily. “So now I can go to the same university as you.”

“That’s great,” Kasamatsu said. “I hope you didn’t just select the school because of that.”

“I picked it for the program too,” Kise said plaintively. Kasamatsu could imagine the face he was making.  

“Okay okay, I believe you,” Kasamatsu said. “We should celebrate. There’s a place I know nearby. Come over this weekend and I’ll take you there.”

“Planning a date?” Kuroo asked from the couch when he had hung up.

“He passed his exam, so we’re going out to dinner to celebrate,” Kasamatsu said. He supposed it was a date. Their first official date. And just like that, he was nervous.

“Do you and Kenma want to go too?”

“Make it a double date?” Kuroo asked. “You sure you don’t want it to be just the two of you?” He must’ve seen something in Kasamatsu’s face, because he laughed and said, “Okay, sure. I’ll ask Kenma.”

To Kasamatsu’s relief, Kenma agreed to the double date, and it was decided that they would go out for dinner on Friday night. Just in case they couldn’t get a table when they went there, Kasamatsu booked one for them in advance. He wanted it to go well, and was surprised at how much he wanted it to go well. It really was a wonder how he had been completely oblivious for so long.

 

Friday evening arrived, and with it arrived Kise. He was dressed in a nice outfit, something he might wear for one of his shoots, and he promptly enveloped Kasamatsu in a hug. He was wearing some sort of cologne as well, and Kasamatsu decided he liked it. After a few moments in Kise’s embrace, he reached out and tugged at his earring.

“Ever planning on letting me go?” he asked.

“But I missed you, senpai,” Kise whined, releasing him nonetheless.

“Yes, yes, I missed you too,” Kasamatsu said, pulling him in for a kiss, feeling it was about time. Kise hadn’t really complained at the lack of intimacy in their relationship so far—this was their first kiss since they had started dating—and Kasamatsu wondered if Kise was afraid of upsetting him by making a move.

“Senpai,” Kise said a little breathlessly when they parted.

“It was about time,” Kasamatsu said, feeling warm. “Alright, ready to go? Kenma and Kuroo said they’d meet us there.”

Kasamatsu was glad he had booked them a table, because the restaurant turned out to be really busy when they got there. They were led to a nice booth and settled for perusing the menu while they waited for Kuroo and Kenma, who joined them a few minutes later.

“You look fancy today, Kise,” Kuroo commented.

“Congratulations on passing your exam,” Kenma offered.     

“Thanks,” Kise said cheerfully to both of them.

“It’s so relieving to see you two finally together,” Kuroo commented while they waited for their food to arrive. “Kise, did you know Kasamatsu thought you had a crush on me at one point?”

Kise stared at Kasamatsu in shock, and Kasamastu mentally wished Kuroo a lot of pain.

“Senpai, what made you think _that_?” Kise asked, utterly bewildered. “I was never more than just friendly with Kuroo-san.”

“I honestly don’t know,” Kasamatsu said, embarrassed. “Can we not talk about that?” 

“Why did you choose this place?” Kenma asked, curiously.

“They have good onion gratin soup and Kise likes onion grating soup,” Kasamatsu said promptly, thankful to Kenma for bringing the conversation to a less embarrassing topic.

“I don’t remember telling you that,” Kise said.

Kasamatsu shrugged. “I remember you mentioning that back in high school.” All three of them stared at him. “What?” he asked, confused.

“You remember him saying that in high school,” Kuroo said. “Wow. You were even more far gone than I’d thought.”

“I guess I was,” Kasamatsu shrugged. “All’s well that ends well?”

 

“Kuroo-san,” Kise said. It was the last day of class, and Kise had come over because they were all going to be too busy with exams for the next few weeks.

“Mm?”

“Kenma said you were going to get another piercing?”

Kuroo looked up from his book, intrigued. “Yeah, I have an appointment to get a helix done today. Although I don’t know if it’s the best idea right before exams. Oh well. Why do you ask?”

“I was thinking of finally getting my other lobe done,” Kise said.

“Hmm? And you want to go with me instead of with Kasamatsu?” Kuroo asked. “I don’t suppose this has anything to do with his fondness for tugging at your existing piercing?” His had guessed correctly, if Kise’s embarrassed look was anything to go by. “Sure, you can come with me.”

When they got to the tattoo parlour where he was getting the piercing done, Kuroo wondered if it had been a mistake to bring Kise with him. He looked a little scared, and Kuroo regretted not having asked him for the reason behind him having only one of his lobes pierced. It was a little late now, he supposed, although Kise could always choose to back out.

“You want to go first?” he asked, after confirming with the person doing the piercing that it would be okay to squeeze Kise into his appointment, probably because the lady was a little taken in by Kise.

“No,” Kise said quickly. “You can have yours done first,” he said, and so Kuroo did. It hurt more than the lobes had, but it was nowhere as bad as he had heard others say it was. Maybe he just hadn’t noticed because he was worried about how pale Kise looked.

“You sure you want to get it done? We can come back another day,” he told him.

“No, I’ll be fine,” Kise said stubbornly, sitting in the chair Kuroo had just vacated. He clutched at the arms of the chair, and yelped when the needle went into the ear. His eyes were watering when it was done.

“You okay?” Kuroo asked after they had paid and received their ear care solutions, which were really a rip-off, Kuroo thought.

“Yes,” Kise said. “It didn’t hurt as much as it did last time.”

“It looks good on you,” Kuroo said. “I bet Kasamatsu will be surprised.”

Kasamatsu was surprised, and also impressed that Kise had gone through with it. The reason behind that was made clear to Kuroo when he was informed that Kise hadn’t had it done with his other lobe the first time because it had hurt too much.

“I told him to get a tongue piercing too. Sadly for you, he didn’t listen,” Kuroo told Kasamatsu.  

“Sadly for me?” Kasamatsu asked.

“I’ve heard they feel great,” Kuroo answered with a wide grin, thoroughly entertained by the way Kise reddened immediately, and Kasamatsu a moment later. He made his escape before Kasamatsu could recover enough to throw something at him. He was looking forward to teasing them more often next year.   

**Author's Note:**

> Words used:  
> Fist, fah, holm, oi, mi, loin, bi, copen, bends, yodel, sea, quads, zags, je, jeet, reel, we, ew, tier, xi, vox, sot.


End file.
